Forge & April | Mechanical Wonders
Nov. 20th, 2022 02:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsForge gives April a big surprise, and the two of them head into town for appropriate gear and snacks.
Forge had been spending a lot of time down in the garage working on a new project. The math was gnarly and the power source decidedly different from most things he'd done but he'd finally worked out the last of the kinks in the new, smaller design. He touched a button on a controller and the small block of metal unfolded itself like origami into the form of a smallish scooter, then a quick structural scan to look for anything that didn't unfold properly - topology was _such_ a bitch - before issuing another command to get it to fold itself back up. There. Should be ready now. Not bothering to wash up or anything, he tapped out a quick text on his phone.
He was going to ignore the voice of experience that told him that this was a horrible idea and would end badly and listen to the one that liked doing things for people. Just because, he told himself firmly.
Just because.
April was mildly surprised by the text asking her to meet Forge in the garage, since they generally hung out in her lab or his, depending on which of them was working on something interesting or time sensitive. Maybe he was going to show her his bike? They’d talked about it, discussed some of the things that made it work, but she hadn’t seen it yet. She wondered if she’d be able to talk him into riding it into town for lunch, and made sure she had on the right attire for that plan, comfortable jeans and a sturdy pair of ankle boots before grabbing her smallest, most functional purse and a light jacket.
She typed a confirmation as she headed downstairs and into the garage, pausing at the door to take a long, appreciative glance over the various vehicles both common and rarer before letting her eyes linger on the shoulders of the man who’d summoned her down here. Her lips curved into a soft smile as she crossed the concrete, low heels making a quiet thump to alert him instead of her normal silent step.
“Unicorn reporting as requested. What’s up?”
"Ah, good. A Unicorn sighting." he said. "I've got something for you." he said, and then swallowed. "You've been really helpful since I got here and I … I wanted to show how much I appreciate it." he said. "Behold,'' he said, tapping out a command on a controller. The block of something at his feet unfolded like a complicated Transformer to reveal - a scooter. Two tires, handlebars, seat, all the usual accompanying bits. "Ta-daa." he said.
April’s eyes were wide as she watched the scooter unfold, sliding to take in Forge, looking slightly uncomfortable as the silence stretched out. She started to say something, but the lump in her throat, the absolute awe that he’d done something so exceptionally nice for her…
Two short steps had her flinging her arms around him in excitement as she fully processed the gift. “You’re amazing." She tucked her face into his neck, a delighted laugh brushing over his skin as she hugged him tightly.
Forge redefined awkward in that moment - he didn't know what to do with his hands, parts of him were very, very happy to see her, and his brain was on the verge of a meltdown. So he awkwardly patted her on the back - oh my, that's bra, put your hand somewhere _else_, Forge. "Umm, yeah." he said intelligently.
After a few more seconds she took a step back, a beaming smile on her face and hands still loosely on his back. “See, I thought maybe you were just going to show me your bike, overachiever,” she teased lightly. “This… I’m never going to be able to thank you enough for this, really.” She took another step back, finally dropping her arms just to grab the hand closest to her. “Tell me everything about her.”
That happened to be the meat hand and he was sweaty and his pulse was elevated. "Welp, as you saw, it folds in three dimensions down to something portable. You've got some oomph in that department but even if you didn't it should be carryable. Runs on water via a fusion bottle that'll use a kickstart charge to split water, release the O2, and use the hydrogen to make the scooter go. Top speed's not quite highway legal, as I don't hate you that much, but if that's a problem I can re-tune things for your reflexes and get you really motoring." he said in a rush. "Likely to get pretty thirsty so bring a bottle of water with you when you want to take it places." he cautioned. "Other than that, no really fancy electronics. Had to leave some room for you to make it your own."
"After all, a filthy assistant should have the means to putt-putt wherever she likes." he joked.
“Filthy assistant, hm?” April smirked, giving his hand a squeeze before tugging him along as she started to closely inspect the scooter. A few tendrils had slipped out along her skin, and one brushed over Forge’s cheek in a gentle caress as she finally let his hand drop, kneeling to run her fingers over various parts along the frame. “This puts my Vespa to shame, and I was really proud of the work I did to maintain her. I always wonder if it survived the blast that sent me here.” She tilted her head slightly, catching his eye with her own. “You have no idea how difficult it was to not kiss you in thanks instead.”
Forge.exe stopped responding at that one and it took a moment to come back online. "Hey, it was no problem. Topology sucks and a chance to refresh on making the math real was welcome." he said, flushing a bit. "If you don't plan on running it for a while make sure you plug it in to keep the various bits that need power charged. If you forget and the bottle goes flat, come find me and I'll make you a new one."
“Still.” She stood up, keeping just inside his personal space but not touching. “I’m gonna need a helmet before I go on a test drive. Want to come to town with me? Take the bus, lunch and a helmet, come back and go for a drive together?”
Forge shrugged. "Sure." he said. "Can always reload the snack supply on the ride back - you'll note I did provide saddlebags for your little scooter there." And a right pain in the ass they were but once he got them folding correctly it wasn't too too bad. "I didn't think to make you a helmet."
“I could probably come up with something sufficient on my own,” April replied, letting more tendrils loose until they were wrapped around her face in a helmet style. “But I can also just get a brain bucket at the motorcycle shop in town and then modify it to my tastes without losing visibility or safety. Less energy expense that way.” The tendrils retreated back into her body and she gave a quick shake at the feeling. “Thank you, by the way. I… it’s a little overwhelming, how generous you’re being.”
"Stahp. You're embarrassing me." he said, looking away for a moment. Then he tossed her the control/keyring for the scooter. "So yeah. There ya go." he said, then glanced over at his only slightly-bigger and only-slightly-heavier folding bike. "I'll let the two of you get acquainted - maybe take it for a spin around the driveway - while I try something on my bike." he said.
“Alright, fine, I’ll try not to do any more embarrassing,” April replied, wrapping him in another quick hug before investigating her scooter more thoroughly. The driveway was probably safe enough for no helmet and long enough to give her a good idea of the control and handling. “Be back in a few.”
He waved absently at her as he was already sinking into the subconscious place where his power worked its best. He needed to elongate a particular piece, which was going to mean - sigh - adjusting the topology map and how it folded and unfolded. Pain in the ass that that was, he was already seeing some possibilities.
The ride was smooth, and April took a small risk, forming her tendril helmet and hitting the fairly quiet road that ran in front of the mansion as well. Everything worked fine, the bike was exceptionally responsive, and her mind started ticking off ideas to thank Forge properly even though she had a feeling he’d refuse actual payment again. Food, probably. Company. Maybe ask if he could use a hand with stretches for his leg and back muscles. She remembered the exercises her dad needed, and some of the massage techniques mom had taught the two of them to help out on the bad days. For now, she was content to circle back, heading up the drive and back into the garage.
Forge was in that place she didn’t like interrupting, at least not so soon, so she turned her bike off, checked things quietly, and settled in to watch him work. It was fascinating to observe him like this, almost a sort of frenetic zen, beautiful in the chaos.
A dim background part of his mind noted that she'd returned, but it wasn't task-limiting so he just accepted it and continued to work out how to make his bike a two-seater. He cocked his head, heedless of some stray wisps of hair that fell into his eyes. If he adjusted things like _that_, the knock-off effects would alter _this_ and _that_ and change the formula to be closer to what he wanted. It helped that he knew his bike inside and out and knew the math behind how it behaved. Yes. That should work.
April smiled lightly at the hair in his eyes, leaning forward as he got to work. At first she wasn’t sure what adjustment was being made, but as the pieces were slid around and reworked the image became clearer… either a seat back or… no, a second seat. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what had brought that idea on. Her earlier words, perhaps?
It only took maybe twenty minutes to make the matrix adjustments he wanted to make - and to be able to both have the second seat and to lose it if he so desired. He liked his bike primarily just for him but she did put the idea in his head for a second seat so she could go get a helmet for her own scooter. He swiped the hair out of his eyes and took a deep breath. "That should do it, unless the topological map decides it really hates me. I know the math but even I can fuck up translating it into something real."
“Testing phase?” A quick dig in her glorified wallet with a strap produced a flat snap clip in a dark brown similar to her own hair color, and she held it up. “Want that bit of hair out of the way for good until you can braid it back in?”
He looked at her claw thing and shook his head. "Nah. It's fine. I'll re-braid it later." he said. "Just gonna get squished by helmet anyway." he pointed out. The bike had collapsed without anything snapping or falling off or making distressed noises, so that was good. Next step would be to unfold it with the second seat option. So he sent it that command and then waited patiently for the bike to unfold.
“True.” April slipped it back into the small bag, then reached up to impulsively tuck the errant hair behind his ear. “I know you can do it yourself, but I wouldn’t mind braiding it for you later, if you wanted. Sometimes I enjoy letting someone else take care of mine, although I haven’t really had the opportunity since I arrived here.” It was one of the things she missed about May, being able to braid one another’s hair faster and neater than they could do their own in the mirror
Forge sighed. "What IS IT with Anglos and my hair?" he asked rhetorically, then walked over to a rack to pull out his own helmet. "Well, come on." he told both April and the bike as it was finishing its reconfiguration. So far so good, in the pipe five by five.
“It’s soft and possibly freaks you out less than full-body hugging and effusive praise?” Her voice was matter-of-fact, tendrils already wrapping back around her head in a light approximation of a helmet. “Do I need to stop, or is this another one of those things you need to get used to?”
He just sighed. "Cultural issue." he said, then climbed onto his now-unfolded bike. He grinned to himself - in this longer configuration, he had more internal room to build a bigger bottle, maybe up the nav and voice-recognition protocols. That could be fun. "Well?" he said as he looked over at April. "Get on!"
“So stop for now,” April agreed, slipping behind him. Her arms slid around his waist and she made sure her feet were clear, then leaned in closer. “Show me what you’ve got, Unicorn wrangler!”
He rolled his eyes and then kicked the bike's fusion bottle to life. The bike didn't make the usual motorcycle roar at all, it was instead unnervingly quiet. Only the lighting-up of his control readouts were any indication the bike was running at all. "OK, let's go get you a new lid and me a reload on snacks." he said as he gently eased the bike out of the garage.
The excuse to stay leaned in and close was pretty nice, April admitted to herself as they made their way into town. It wasn’t overly cold yet, but the wind was brisk enough as they wound through the roads that she was grateful for her jacket and the bit of body heat between the two of them.
Forge was trying not to respond to April clinging to him as he drove them to a nearby-ish bike supply store. He pulled into a parking spot and then put the bike into standby mode. "There you go." he said, extending out the kickstand for the bike. "Go ahead and grab what you need."
“Can do, bossy.” She pointed to a store about three doors down as she slid off. “They sell a bunch of locally made snack food, if you want a little more than just the best of 7-11. Otherwise, we can just meet back here once we’re both done?”
"Don't hate. 7-11 is wonderful." he said as he got off his bike and then pulled the key out of it entirely. "I'll be over there. Come get me when you're done." he said as he walked off towards the candy store, limping just a little.
“Not hating, just expanding your horizons,” she called over her shoulder as she made her way into the supply store. Getting a helmet didn’t take long. She knew what she was looking for, and other than asking if she needed help and making sure the fit was right, the staff had left her to her own devices.
About 10 minutes later she had a bag in hand and was making her way to snack nirvana. Forge wasn’t outside yet, so she stepped inside, picking up a few snacks that she knew her roommate liked as she made her way to the back. She noticed the slight limp as she came up behind him but didn’t comment, saving it for once they were out of the public eye. “Got my bucket, just need to pay for my snacks. You?”
Forge hrmmed. "Decisional paralysis. Too much looks good and if I buy all of it I'll have a rough time getting it back." he said. "But I think I've got it narrowed down just a little…"
“Get some now, make a list for later? How small can you write and it still be legible? I have a tiny notepad on me.” April dug it out, a tiny top-spiral thing slightly bigger than a business card and a small pen. “Or I can make a list, if you’ve got engineer’s chicken scratch.”
"I redefine engineer chicken scratch for the ages." he said, then led her around the store to indicate stuff he wanted to try for later. Most of it was fairly disgusting-looking novelty stuff - but that was even debatable, as he'd managed to pull a great deal of black licorice candies for his Keep pile.
April wrote in hasty all-caps, not particularly neat but perfectly legible as she followed Forge through the store. “You think you’ve got enough black licorice for this run?” she asked, nose slightly wrinkled at the thought. She didn’t particularly care for it - the flavor was too strong in a way that was off-putting - but this unknown quirk amused her. “You can have my licorice flavor jelly beans. I don’t mind if I get them sometimes, but I’d prefer handing them over to someone who will actually enjoy the eating.”
"Both my folks can't stand black licorice. Naze and I love the stuff so when I get it, I tend to tank up and go hard." he said with a shrug. "And I suppose I could eat your bean if you're just going to give them away." he added after a moment.
“Not in public,” she retorted, cheeks bright pink. “I’ve got your list for later. Ready to pay and head back?”
Forge looked at her, puzzled, then just shrugged. "Right. Yeah, let's go settle up and get going." he said, leading her up towards the registers to pay the bill.
Forge had been spending a lot of time down in the garage working on a new project. The math was gnarly and the power source decidedly different from most things he'd done but he'd finally worked out the last of the kinks in the new, smaller design. He touched a button on a controller and the small block of metal unfolded itself like origami into the form of a smallish scooter, then a quick structural scan to look for anything that didn't unfold properly - topology was _such_ a bitch - before issuing another command to get it to fold itself back up. There. Should be ready now. Not bothering to wash up or anything, he tapped out a quick text on his phone.
He was going to ignore the voice of experience that told him that this was a horrible idea and would end badly and listen to the one that liked doing things for people. Just because, he told himself firmly.
Just because.
April was mildly surprised by the text asking her to meet Forge in the garage, since they generally hung out in her lab or his, depending on which of them was working on something interesting or time sensitive. Maybe he was going to show her his bike? They’d talked about it, discussed some of the things that made it work, but she hadn’t seen it yet. She wondered if she’d be able to talk him into riding it into town for lunch, and made sure she had on the right attire for that plan, comfortable jeans and a sturdy pair of ankle boots before grabbing her smallest, most functional purse and a light jacket.
She typed a confirmation as she headed downstairs and into the garage, pausing at the door to take a long, appreciative glance over the various vehicles both common and rarer before letting her eyes linger on the shoulders of the man who’d summoned her down here. Her lips curved into a soft smile as she crossed the concrete, low heels making a quiet thump to alert him instead of her normal silent step.
“Unicorn reporting as requested. What’s up?”
"Ah, good. A Unicorn sighting." he said. "I've got something for you." he said, and then swallowed. "You've been really helpful since I got here and I … I wanted to show how much I appreciate it." he said. "Behold,'' he said, tapping out a command on a controller. The block of something at his feet unfolded like a complicated Transformer to reveal - a scooter. Two tires, handlebars, seat, all the usual accompanying bits. "Ta-daa." he said.
April’s eyes were wide as she watched the scooter unfold, sliding to take in Forge, looking slightly uncomfortable as the silence stretched out. She started to say something, but the lump in her throat, the absolute awe that he’d done something so exceptionally nice for her…
Two short steps had her flinging her arms around him in excitement as she fully processed the gift. “You’re amazing." She tucked her face into his neck, a delighted laugh brushing over his skin as she hugged him tightly.
Forge redefined awkward in that moment - he didn't know what to do with his hands, parts of him were very, very happy to see her, and his brain was on the verge of a meltdown. So he awkwardly patted her on the back - oh my, that's bra, put your hand somewhere _else_, Forge. "Umm, yeah." he said intelligently.
After a few more seconds she took a step back, a beaming smile on her face and hands still loosely on his back. “See, I thought maybe you were just going to show me your bike, overachiever,” she teased lightly. “This… I’m never going to be able to thank you enough for this, really.” She took another step back, finally dropping her arms just to grab the hand closest to her. “Tell me everything about her.”
That happened to be the meat hand and he was sweaty and his pulse was elevated. "Welp, as you saw, it folds in three dimensions down to something portable. You've got some oomph in that department but even if you didn't it should be carryable. Runs on water via a fusion bottle that'll use a kickstart charge to split water, release the O2, and use the hydrogen to make the scooter go. Top speed's not quite highway legal, as I don't hate you that much, but if that's a problem I can re-tune things for your reflexes and get you really motoring." he said in a rush. "Likely to get pretty thirsty so bring a bottle of water with you when you want to take it places." he cautioned. "Other than that, no really fancy electronics. Had to leave some room for you to make it your own."
"After all, a filthy assistant should have the means to putt-putt wherever she likes." he joked.
“Filthy assistant, hm?” April smirked, giving his hand a squeeze before tugging him along as she started to closely inspect the scooter. A few tendrils had slipped out along her skin, and one brushed over Forge’s cheek in a gentle caress as she finally let his hand drop, kneeling to run her fingers over various parts along the frame. “This puts my Vespa to shame, and I was really proud of the work I did to maintain her. I always wonder if it survived the blast that sent me here.” She tilted her head slightly, catching his eye with her own. “You have no idea how difficult it was to not kiss you in thanks instead.”
Forge.exe stopped responding at that one and it took a moment to come back online. "Hey, it was no problem. Topology sucks and a chance to refresh on making the math real was welcome." he said, flushing a bit. "If you don't plan on running it for a while make sure you plug it in to keep the various bits that need power charged. If you forget and the bottle goes flat, come find me and I'll make you a new one."
“Still.” She stood up, keeping just inside his personal space but not touching. “I’m gonna need a helmet before I go on a test drive. Want to come to town with me? Take the bus, lunch and a helmet, come back and go for a drive together?”
Forge shrugged. "Sure." he said. "Can always reload the snack supply on the ride back - you'll note I did provide saddlebags for your little scooter there." And a right pain in the ass they were but once he got them folding correctly it wasn't too too bad. "I didn't think to make you a helmet."
“I could probably come up with something sufficient on my own,” April replied, letting more tendrils loose until they were wrapped around her face in a helmet style. “But I can also just get a brain bucket at the motorcycle shop in town and then modify it to my tastes without losing visibility or safety. Less energy expense that way.” The tendrils retreated back into her body and she gave a quick shake at the feeling. “Thank you, by the way. I… it’s a little overwhelming, how generous you’re being.”
"Stahp. You're embarrassing me." he said, looking away for a moment. Then he tossed her the control/keyring for the scooter. "So yeah. There ya go." he said, then glanced over at his only slightly-bigger and only-slightly-heavier folding bike. "I'll let the two of you get acquainted - maybe take it for a spin around the driveway - while I try something on my bike." he said.
“Alright, fine, I’ll try not to do any more embarrassing,” April replied, wrapping him in another quick hug before investigating her scooter more thoroughly. The driveway was probably safe enough for no helmet and long enough to give her a good idea of the control and handling. “Be back in a few.”
He waved absently at her as he was already sinking into the subconscious place where his power worked its best. He needed to elongate a particular piece, which was going to mean - sigh - adjusting the topology map and how it folded and unfolded. Pain in the ass that that was, he was already seeing some possibilities.
The ride was smooth, and April took a small risk, forming her tendril helmet and hitting the fairly quiet road that ran in front of the mansion as well. Everything worked fine, the bike was exceptionally responsive, and her mind started ticking off ideas to thank Forge properly even though she had a feeling he’d refuse actual payment again. Food, probably. Company. Maybe ask if he could use a hand with stretches for his leg and back muscles. She remembered the exercises her dad needed, and some of the massage techniques mom had taught the two of them to help out on the bad days. For now, she was content to circle back, heading up the drive and back into the garage.
Forge was in that place she didn’t like interrupting, at least not so soon, so she turned her bike off, checked things quietly, and settled in to watch him work. It was fascinating to observe him like this, almost a sort of frenetic zen, beautiful in the chaos.
A dim background part of his mind noted that she'd returned, but it wasn't task-limiting so he just accepted it and continued to work out how to make his bike a two-seater. He cocked his head, heedless of some stray wisps of hair that fell into his eyes. If he adjusted things like _that_, the knock-off effects would alter _this_ and _that_ and change the formula to be closer to what he wanted. It helped that he knew his bike inside and out and knew the math behind how it behaved. Yes. That should work.
April smiled lightly at the hair in his eyes, leaning forward as he got to work. At first she wasn’t sure what adjustment was being made, but as the pieces were slid around and reworked the image became clearer… either a seat back or… no, a second seat. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what had brought that idea on. Her earlier words, perhaps?
It only took maybe twenty minutes to make the matrix adjustments he wanted to make - and to be able to both have the second seat and to lose it if he so desired. He liked his bike primarily just for him but she did put the idea in his head for a second seat so she could go get a helmet for her own scooter. He swiped the hair out of his eyes and took a deep breath. "That should do it, unless the topological map decides it really hates me. I know the math but even I can fuck up translating it into something real."
“Testing phase?” A quick dig in her glorified wallet with a strap produced a flat snap clip in a dark brown similar to her own hair color, and she held it up. “Want that bit of hair out of the way for good until you can braid it back in?”
He looked at her claw thing and shook his head. "Nah. It's fine. I'll re-braid it later." he said. "Just gonna get squished by helmet anyway." he pointed out. The bike had collapsed without anything snapping or falling off or making distressed noises, so that was good. Next step would be to unfold it with the second seat option. So he sent it that command and then waited patiently for the bike to unfold.
“True.” April slipped it back into the small bag, then reached up to impulsively tuck the errant hair behind his ear. “I know you can do it yourself, but I wouldn’t mind braiding it for you later, if you wanted. Sometimes I enjoy letting someone else take care of mine, although I haven’t really had the opportunity since I arrived here.” It was one of the things she missed about May, being able to braid one another’s hair faster and neater than they could do their own in the mirror
Forge sighed. "What IS IT with Anglos and my hair?" he asked rhetorically, then walked over to a rack to pull out his own helmet. "Well, come on." he told both April and the bike as it was finishing its reconfiguration. So far so good, in the pipe five by five.
“It’s soft and possibly freaks you out less than full-body hugging and effusive praise?” Her voice was matter-of-fact, tendrils already wrapping back around her head in a light approximation of a helmet. “Do I need to stop, or is this another one of those things you need to get used to?”
He just sighed. "Cultural issue." he said, then climbed onto his now-unfolded bike. He grinned to himself - in this longer configuration, he had more internal room to build a bigger bottle, maybe up the nav and voice-recognition protocols. That could be fun. "Well?" he said as he looked over at April. "Get on!"
“So stop for now,” April agreed, slipping behind him. Her arms slid around his waist and she made sure her feet were clear, then leaned in closer. “Show me what you’ve got, Unicorn wrangler!”
He rolled his eyes and then kicked the bike's fusion bottle to life. The bike didn't make the usual motorcycle roar at all, it was instead unnervingly quiet. Only the lighting-up of his control readouts were any indication the bike was running at all. "OK, let's go get you a new lid and me a reload on snacks." he said as he gently eased the bike out of the garage.
The excuse to stay leaned in and close was pretty nice, April admitted to herself as they made their way into town. It wasn’t overly cold yet, but the wind was brisk enough as they wound through the roads that she was grateful for her jacket and the bit of body heat between the two of them.
Forge was trying not to respond to April clinging to him as he drove them to a nearby-ish bike supply store. He pulled into a parking spot and then put the bike into standby mode. "There you go." he said, extending out the kickstand for the bike. "Go ahead and grab what you need."
“Can do, bossy.” She pointed to a store about three doors down as she slid off. “They sell a bunch of locally made snack food, if you want a little more than just the best of 7-11. Otherwise, we can just meet back here once we’re both done?”
"Don't hate. 7-11 is wonderful." he said as he got off his bike and then pulled the key out of it entirely. "I'll be over there. Come get me when you're done." he said as he walked off towards the candy store, limping just a little.
“Not hating, just expanding your horizons,” she called over her shoulder as she made her way into the supply store. Getting a helmet didn’t take long. She knew what she was looking for, and other than asking if she needed help and making sure the fit was right, the staff had left her to her own devices.
About 10 minutes later she had a bag in hand and was making her way to snack nirvana. Forge wasn’t outside yet, so she stepped inside, picking up a few snacks that she knew her roommate liked as she made her way to the back. She noticed the slight limp as she came up behind him but didn’t comment, saving it for once they were out of the public eye. “Got my bucket, just need to pay for my snacks. You?”
Forge hrmmed. "Decisional paralysis. Too much looks good and if I buy all of it I'll have a rough time getting it back." he said. "But I think I've got it narrowed down just a little…"
“Get some now, make a list for later? How small can you write and it still be legible? I have a tiny notepad on me.” April dug it out, a tiny top-spiral thing slightly bigger than a business card and a small pen. “Or I can make a list, if you’ve got engineer’s chicken scratch.”
"I redefine engineer chicken scratch for the ages." he said, then led her around the store to indicate stuff he wanted to try for later. Most of it was fairly disgusting-looking novelty stuff - but that was even debatable, as he'd managed to pull a great deal of black licorice candies for his Keep pile.
April wrote in hasty all-caps, not particularly neat but perfectly legible as she followed Forge through the store. “You think you’ve got enough black licorice for this run?” she asked, nose slightly wrinkled at the thought. She didn’t particularly care for it - the flavor was too strong in a way that was off-putting - but this unknown quirk amused her. “You can have my licorice flavor jelly beans. I don’t mind if I get them sometimes, but I’d prefer handing them over to someone who will actually enjoy the eating.”
"Both my folks can't stand black licorice. Naze and I love the stuff so when I get it, I tend to tank up and go hard." he said with a shrug. "And I suppose I could eat your bean if you're just going to give them away." he added after a moment.
“Not in public,” she retorted, cheeks bright pink. “I’ve got your list for later. Ready to pay and head back?”
Forge looked at her, puzzled, then just shrugged. "Right. Yeah, let's go settle up and get going." he said, leading her up towards the registers to pay the bill.
